Barcelona vs Real Madrid preview, H2H, team news, line-ups and prediction

Laliga heavyweights, Real Madrid and Barcelona will clash in a friendly encounter at the MetLife Stadium in the early hours of Saturday as part of their United States preseason preparations.

Despite finishing second in Laliga last season, Barcelona’s recently concluded campaign was not the most vintage with a series of on-pitch and off-pitch issues that partly led to the resignation of Xavi Hernandez as head coach.

Inconsistency was one of their biggest undoing last season where they either threw away leads or rallied back to draw games where they had a flurry of chances to win.

This was not the kind of performance one would expect from a reinforced team that just won the Laliga, and the Blaugarana ended up giving up their title to arch-rivals, Madrid.

Hansi Flick, the newly-appointed Barcelona manager, faces a tough challenge as he seeks to unseat the current La Liga champions, who finished ten points clear of Barcelona last season.

Barcelona started their United States tour on a more encouraging note against Manchester City. Despite Pep Guardiola’s side being better prepared for the encounter, having already played two matches on their tour, Flick’s team managed to hold the English champions to a 2-2 draw in what marked the German’s debut as the club’s manager.

The Catalan giants secured second place in La Liga last season, trailing behind Madrid, and faced elimination in the quarter-finals of both the Champions League and Copa del Rey. Barcelona concluded the season with four consecutive league victories, guaranteeing their position above Girona in second place. They are now set to face Madrid and AC Milan during their US Tour and fans with Barcelona tickets are quietly confident ahead of the new campaign.

Flick’s team will next face Monaco in the Joan Gamper Trophy on August 12 before starting their La Liga campaign away against Valencia on August 17. Barcelona has only brought in Pau Victor from Girona this summer, but the club is anticipated to be busy in the upcoming weeks, with top targets reportedly including Athletic Bilbao’s Nico Williams and RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo.

Madrid’s Wednesday night match against AC Milan in Chicago was their first major fixture since winning the Champions League against Borussia Dortmund at Wembley Stadium on May 1, marking their 15th European title. Los Blancos also triumphed domestically in the 2023-24 season, securing the La Liga championship ahead of rivals Barcelona and surprise contenders Girona.

Ancelotti featured several star players in the pre-season game against Milan, including Luka Modric, Thibaut Courtois, Antonio Rudiger, and young talent Endrick, but the Italian side still secured a 1-0 win courtesy of a fine finish from Samuel Chukwueze.

Eager to avoid complacency before the new season, the defending Laliga champions led by club-president, Fiorentino Perez secured the summer’s biggest transfer by signing Kylian Mbappe from Paris Saint-Germain after his contract at Parc des Princes expired, ending a two-year transfer saga. So far, Los Blancos have played two pre-season games, defeating Albacete 3-0 in a behind-closed-door friendly and a 1-0 loss to Milan. They will next face Barcelona and Chelsea before starting their competitive season on August 14 against Atalanta BC in the UEFA Super Cup.

Barcelona vs Real Madrid match details

• Date: Saturday, 3rd August, 2024.
• Location: East Rutherford, USA
• Venue: MetLife Stadium
• Kick-off time: 11:00 PM UTC, 12:00 AM BST, 07:00 PM ET, 04:00 PM PT

Match stats and head-to-head

• Both teams have met 257 times in official competitive fixtures. Madrid holds the superior advantage with 105 wins against Barcelona’s 100 victories while 52 matches have ended in a draw.

• These two sides have met 42 times in friendly and exhibition matches with Barcelona holding the upper hand with 24 wins against Madrid’s paltry six victories while 12 matches have ended in a draw.

• Since losing 3-0 to Barcelona in July 2023, Madrid have gone on a three-match winning streak against the Catalan giants across all competitions.

• Barcelona are yet to lose a match since the 4-2 defeat against Girona in May. They’ve also recorded a winning streak in all five matches they’ve played since then.

• The Blaugrana have won 10 of their last 18 away matches against Madrid across all competitions.

Team news

Barcelona head coach, Hansi Flick named a 31-man squad for the preseason tour in the United States and there were plenty of familiar faces in the team selection, including Alejandro Balde who is back in full. fitness after spending a lengthy spell of last season on the sidelines.

The Blaugrana were without several first-team players in their recent friendly win against City including the likes of Ansu Fati, Frenkie De Jong, Gavi, Pedri, and Ronald Araujo who are sidelined due to injuries. On the other hand, Pau Cubarsi, Fermin Lopez, and Eric Garcia are currently competing at the Olympic Games for Spain and their return dates depend on how far Spain reaches in the competition.

With players returning from extended breaks, Flick would savour the chance of making a stronger lineup in the coming matches starting from Madrid. Clement Lenglet, Robert Lewandowski, and Alejandro Balde have already played in pre-season, and Raphinha, Marc Andre Ter Stegen, Ilkay Gundogan, Jules Kounde, and Andreas Christensen might be available for a place in the starting lineup this weekend as well.

On the other hand, Madrid’s head coach, Carlo Ancelotti fielded a stronger lineup in the defeat to Milan. The likes of Luka Modric, Thibaut Courtois, Antonio Rudiger, Arda Guler, Brahim Diaz, Lucas Vazquez, and Dani Ceballos all played against the Rossoneri, with 18-year-old summer arrival, Endrick making his debut. Madrid may also see the return of key players like Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo, and Eder Militao, in the squad but it is unclear if the Brazilian trio will feature against Barcelona.

Mbappé is expected to join the squad at a later date for preparations ahead of their UEFA Super Club clash against Europa League winners, Atalanta.

Predicted starting lineup

Barcelona predicted starting lineup:

Ter Stegen; J Araujo, I Martinez, Christensen, Fort; Romeu, Gundogan, Torre; Roque, Lewandowski, Victor.

Madrid predicted starting lineup

Courtois; Vazquez, Vallejo, Rudiger, Garcia; Ceballos, Paz, Guler; Diaz, Endrick, Latasa.

Prediction

Barcelona fielded a squad primarily composed of youth players with a few first-team members against Manchester City. With additional players joining the squad this weekend, Barcelona may present a stronger lineup as they continue adapting to the manager’s strategies. If they maintain the resilience shown in their previous match, they could pose a significant challenge.

Madrid, last season’s Champions League winners, will aim to recover from their defeat to AC Milan. With a more stable squad, they should look to establish dominance against a team still adjusting to new management. However, their lacklustre performance in the last game indicates incomplete preparation, which Barcelona could exploit.

Given the competitive nature of both managers, a high-scoring affair is expected in this match and the team with the better-organised defence should emerge victorious.

We’re predicting a 3:2 win for Barcelona.